Bachmann to Obama: Don't let terrorists "lawyer up"

Rep. Michele Bachmann, a well-known critic of the Obama administration, took a fresh swipe at the president this afternoon for giving the failed Christmas Day bomber access to a lawyer.

"We should be using all legal means necessary to push this terrorist to release all his information, not allow him to lawyer up," Bachmann said -- in a statement that appeared to channel former Vice President Dick Cheney. "He should not be afforded the rights of American citizens like you and me. He is a terrorist, and he should be treated like one.

"Abdulmutallab’s actions were an act of war and not akin to breaking an entering," she continued. "Thus, they must be treated as such."

Her statement went on to say that if law enforcement is not given unfettered access to combatants for interrogation, the "President will continue to put the men and women of this country at risk."

Bachmann made a similar criticism on Fred Thompson's radio show Dec. 29.

"We have not interrogated him," Bachmann said. "This is not a military action. The military, the FBI, the CIA should have been involved trying to get out of him all of the information they can. Do you know he has been given a lawyer and Miranda Rights? And he's on his own."

The Wall Street Journal's law blog offers a rundown of some of the recent debate on this issue.

On a related note, the Stillwater Republican also recently protested the Obama administration's decision to give 9/11 plotters civilian trials in New York City.

A Duluth native who just barely lost Virginia's GOP gubernatorial primary said that politicians have not gone far enough in condemning the left for violence during a rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville. "I think that the left is going to try to use this as an excuse to crack down on conservative free speech," said Corey Stewart. "I think they're going to try to use this as an excuse to remove more historical monuments."